Philex releases 2015 sustainability report

Philex Mining Corp., one of the country’s largest mining firms, recently released its 2015 Sustainability Report detailing sustainability efforts of its mine site in Padcal, Benguet.

This is the company’s second Sustainability Report following the first one released in 2014.

The Sustainability Report was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 “core” level, and a full copy can be downloaded from Philex’s website.

According to the GRI website, the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are the most widely used comprehensive sustainability reporting standard in the world. Released in 2013, the G4 Guidelines were an improvement from the old guidelines that sought to highlight “those things that matter” in a sustainability report.

Compliance with GRI G4 standards, as expounded by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is “a hallmark of excellent corporate governance and housekeeping.”

“The 2015 Sustainability Report, ‘ Magnitude,’ showcased how we constantly strive to make improvements in advancing Philex Mining as a responsible industrial producer,” said Eulalio Austin Jr., president and CEO of Philex.

“One of the company’s significant operations milestones in 2015 was the declaring of additional resources and reserves for Padcal mine and the discovery of initial resources in the surrounding area. For Padcal, additional resources of 111 million tons at the 800-600 meter level were declared in October 2015. The additional reserves extend Padcal mine’s life for two more years to 2022 from 2020,” he said.

“In addition, an initial inferred resource estimate of 21.7 million tons was identified in the Bumolo Project that increases the possibility of another mine life extension for Padcal. This, however, will require more work to increase the quality and quantity of the initial results. Nonetheless, exploration for further resources in the Padcal mine vicinity is being relentlessly pursued to identify new ore bodies,” added Austin.

As highlighted in the report, Philex has established a sustainable business generating an acceptable return for the stakeholders, while simultaneously understanding, managing, and mitigating the impacts of its mining operations on the societies and environment in which it operates.

“Mining responsibly is integral to our business strategy and our approach to operational excellence,” said Michael Toledo, Philex senior vice president for public and regulatory affairs.

“The mining industry has a unique opportunity to make a positive and lasting contribution to the well-being of employees and host communities. At Philex, we believe our longterm strength is underpinned by our ability to transform that opportunity into real and sustainable returns for all our stakeholders,” he added.

The report was complied according to the internationally-recognized Sustainability Reporting Guidelines issued by the GRI.

It elaborates mainly on Philex’s ideas, strategies, and concrete practices in relation to corporate social responsibility in 2015 in terms of corporate governance, green sustainable development, environmentalfriendly operations, supply chain management and social contributions.

For his part, Philex vice president for environment and community relations Victor Francisco said that through the years, sustainability reporting has showed the company’s transparency in its operations and impact on the environment, society and the economy.

“Our 2015 Sustainability Report was prepared and verified in accordance with the GRI G4 Guidelines which helped us generate information that is reliable, relevant and standardized according to the world’s best practices. The material information helps us assess and understand better opportunities and risks that may impact both our operations and stakeholders, thereby enabling us to plan better and arrive at a more informed decisionmaking process,” he said.

“Also, our strategy is to make production efficient, with minimum impact on the environment, while providing maximum benefits to our employees and host communities such as adhering to good governance, promoting employee wellness, empowering communities, protecting the environment, and ensuring a safe workplace. These are our main principles that we have maintained all throughout our 60 years of existence and operation,” Francisco added.

As a responsible mining company, Philex is IMS-certified, which means it has both ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management System standard and OHSAS 18001: 2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standards.